Finders Keepers
by silrayn silverwolf
Summary: Seishirou wakes up after being defeated by a strangely changed Subaru in Nakano Sun Plaza--his rescuers ask his help in a case involving dead dark onmyouji...[YnM Crossover] *shounen ai*
1. Nakano sun plaza

**Title:** Finders Keepers 

**Author:** silrayn silverwolf 

**Status:** Unfinished, 1 out of 3? 

**Disclaimers:** Yami no Matsuei, Tokyo Babylon and X1999 don't belong to me. 

**Warning:** PG13, may rise to R - just to be safe, it involves a certain guy after all. Non-canon alert, I don't know very much about X1999 except for a few select scenes so there might be something non-canon there. Shuck that, there is non-canon stuff here! It is a crossover after all! 

**Teaser:** Sometimes, we don't know what we have until something threatens to take it away from us… Seishirou wakes up after being defeated by an oddly changed Subaru in Nakano Sun Plaza.[1] His rescuers ask him to help them on their case involving dead dark onmyouji...[Yami no Matsuei/Tokyo Babylon/X1999 Crossover] 

**Finders Keepers**   
YAMI NO MATSUEI - TOKYO BABYLON   
- X1999 CROSSOVER FANFICTION

  
  
  


**Part 1 - blind man's bluff**

The room swam into slowly into Seishirou's view. 

"He's awakening." A tenor voice said rather loudly, making him wince. 

"Good, maybe he can tell us what happened." A sharper alto voice interjected. 

"Hisoka!" 

"Well, he _is_ a dark onmyouji or he'd not be in this situation. He's certainly not a good guy." 

"That doesn't excuse us!" 

Seishirou started to sit up to look at his surroundings and winced, his ribs and arm hurt. 

"Easy there, how are you feeling?" Said a pale blob that slowly resolved into a youngish looking face with messy brown hair. Purple eyes stared at him with concern. Slender arms caught him and pulling him up. 

"I've been better." Seishirou smirked. He didn't want to confide to this stranger, just how much he'd been injured. 

A snort came from the chair beside the bed where a blond sat. 

"You must be wondering how you got here?" The brunet continued. 

"No, I know exactly how I had gotten here." Seishirou said abruptly, brooking no more questions. His head throbbed and he wanted no more than to sleep but the two strangers wouldn't leave and didn't look like they were leaving any time soon. His eyes drifted shut. 

"Whoa! You're not supposed to sleep. The doctor said you might have a concussion. I'm Tsuzuki Asato, by the way, and this is my partner Kurosawa Hisoka. We found you injured and brought you here." 

"Aa. Arigato. I'm Sakurazuka Seishirou. Glad to meet you." He said smoothly but coldly. 

"So, could you tell us what happened?" 

"No." Seishirou didn't want to fence with these helpful strangers. If he couldn't sleep, he wanted to savor his fight with Subaru. 

_You've grown up since I've seen you, Subaru-kun, I've never thought you could be strong enough to defeat and knock me out...interesting... Yet not strong enough to end me...will you ever be? I wonder..._

*** 

Seishirou blew up another building. 

_Where are you, Subaru-kun? Do you want to play hide and seek?_

He had known upon entering Tokyo after an absence of nine years that the Sumeragi Head was somewhere in the vicinity. He decided to find him using the most expedient method. He started using his powers, as a Dragon of Earth, knowing his opposite wouldn't be able to resist answering. 

_Ah, there you are..._

Subaru had jumped off a building, making a star-shaped kekkai in the process. 

"Seishirou-san." Subaru said as he stood in ready stance. His white trench coat flapped in the dragon-born wind. 

Seishirou only took his sunglasses off in reply to stare at the Sumeragi Head's looks. He also wanted to see if his blind eye would still disconcert the other. He was rewarded by a slight flinch. 

_It still does... Ah, some things never changed..._

He was pleased to note that the years hadn't been bad for _his_ Subaru-kun's looks. Nine years had made the slender form wiry with muscle, but the large emerald eyes hadn't changed much. 

_Maybe a little paler...no, it's not that..._

Subaru's hair was cropped shorter than he'd like but that was all. 

"You were always _so_ cute, Subaru-kun." Seishirou said, as he looked upon his prey. 

Subaru didn't deign answer that but tossed a bunch of ofudo at Seishirou. The stiff paper turned into tiny birds that flew at him at deadly speed. Seishirou called his black eagle and allowed them to get close before evading with ease or so it seemed. The birds had twisted around to hit a building behind him. 

"Is it your wish then..." He said, as he leaped to another area to get clear of the falling debris. 

"To kill me?" He added as Subaru sent another flock seeking him, this time to explode at his feet. He felt warmth drip on his fingers and realized that he hadn't dodged the last attack fast enough. 

_Maybe it's time to retreat...and I want to play with him some more before the end... It would not do to have the game start so seriously..._

"Sorry, I can't play with you any longer. I have an appointment." 

Seishirou dipped his finger in the blood and began to sketch the symbol of "ohm" on the back of his hand and began to chant. Then he began to push against the force of the attack Subaru-kun had sent his way. Subaru crumpled down as the force was pushed back. 

_Ah, as delightfully weak as ever, Subaru-kun... Nine years haven't changed you a bit..._

He was about to get out of the kekkai when he heard the screaming of a shikigami. He looked up to see a dark red, almost black, falcon coming at him. He wasn't able to dodge as the thing came at him shrieking. He covered his face with his arm then he felt the splash of something warm, no hot, burning through his clothing, burning to through his skin, then the clawing of talons. Pain and darkness fell like a weight on his head and the last thing he saw was the malevolent glare in the emerald eyes of the bird. 

*** 

_So Subaru-kun, you've learned to hate and fight... This is going to be more interesting than I thought it would be..._

A niggling disquiet came with the statement as it always. A denial faint, worn away by years. The doubt was a luck stone that his mind had caressed and rubbed till it was all smooth and familiar. He shrugged it away. 

_What else can I do with my DEAR Subaru-kun?_

But… 

_It didn't feel the same, fighting him… As if I wasn't fighting my Subaru-kun…_

_What am I thinking?_

_I wNo matter what he can't kill me, why should I be afraid of him?_

"You cannot interfere with what is to come." Seishirou said, finally goaded into telling the persistent person before him. 

"We're Shinigami, it is our business to find out who's been killing dark onmyouji hereabouts." Tsuzuki replied to the challenge in Seishirou's voice. 

"Ah, I have heard of Shinigami. You who dispense death to those who should've died in one way or another but couldn't for some reason... I know of you. The fight has nothing to do with your case then. It is part of the 1999 Armageddon." 

_They might make the battle more interesting but it will make it more annoying...to have them looking over my shoulder... Besides, Subaru-kun might end up getting killed in the process..._

Seishirou's hand curled to a fist. His Subaru-kun was his to do as he pleased, to kill or to spare. The Sumeragi Head was _his_. 

_No one should ever come between us... He is my prey..._

"Why don't you let us be the judge of that!" Kurosawa said, in an annoyed tone of voice. 

"Because he's the Sumeragi Head." Seishirou's tone took on the condescending tone, rather like an adult lecturing a 5-year old. 

"Why you!" The green-eyed bishounen said as he threw a punch at Seishirou. 

"Now, Hisoka. Don't hit him. He's our only witness. Besides, he's injured." 

"That's right Kurosawa Shinigami-san, it wouldn't do to hit an injured man." Seishirou parroted mockingly. 

"You're really not helping you know." Tsuzuki said, glaring at Seishirou as his partner stalked out of the room. 

"Well, that's me. Just stay away from this business from now on. It has got nothing to do with you." 

"That has yet to be determined." Tsuzuki said as he let himself out of the room. 

"Well, see you around then." Seishirou said cheerily. 

*** 

"Hisoka, why did you punch him? We needed his cooperation for this case, you know." Tsuzuki said as they sat in the hospital lounge, invisible to all the passersby. 

"I just don't like him. He feels...odd." Hisoka said. 

"He's a dark onmyouji, he's bound to be a little strange. They're not known for their good dispositions as a whole." 

"He feels different from Kudoh Senji." Hisoka said referring to the first dark onmyouji they had approached for the case. The man had been killed without a trace afterwards. 

"A point. So what do you think of him?" Tsuzuki asked seriously. He knew by now to trust his partner's intuition about people. Hisoka's empathy was as good a gauge as any. He found the Sakurazukamori to be quite opaque under the apparent cheerful stubbornness. 

"Cold, he was quite amused by us." Hisoka answered in his typical shortness. 

"Cold...hm..." Tsuzuki said, staring into space. 

*** 

Hisoka looked on his partner as the violet-eyed baka stared into space. He knew better than to discount his partner for it. Despite how Tsuzuki acted sometimes, the man had an uncanny intuition about these situations. He sighed and got up to get something warm to drink. He really didn't want to have anything to do with that disconcerting golden-eyed man in the hospital room. Sakurazuka Seishirou, the Sakurazukamori, was just too fucked up for words. Not as fucked up, as say, Kazutaka Muraki, no one could be that but maybe a close second. He could sense a great deal of turmoil under the Artic freeze of the man and that made him very uncomfortable. 

_Speaking of Muraki..._

It was largely thanks to the mad doctor that they were here. His presence near the suspicious deaths of dark onmyouji made them worthy of investigation. Hisoka remembered... 

*** 

"You are to investigate some suspicious looking deaths in the Tokyo area. Dark onmyouji in Tokyo had been dying in unnatural numbers for more than five years." Tatsumi said as several bloody corpses flashed across the LCD projected screen. 

"If this has been going on for years, why are we only being called on to investigate now?" Hisoka asked. 

"The deaths had been considered as accidents. Dark onmyouji were always dying of unnatural causes. They are also the premier causes of unnatural deaths." Tatsumi answered while watching a very hyper Tsuzuki eat a cream puff. The violet-eyed Shinigami had gotten late again and was eating his breakfast in the office. 

"Smmwufoobcalminw." Tsuzuki mumbled around a very full mouth. 

Tatsumi was leaning in unconsciously to have a better view of the puppy messily devouring the treat. 

_He looks absolutely fascinated... I wish he'd say something to Tsuzuki..._

The office non-romance between the two wasn't a secret. It couldn't be to anyone who'd spent any amount of time in the presence of these two. Hisoka was pleased to see that his weren't the only rolling eyes in the room. 

"So why are we being called in now?" Hisoka interpreted the question. He was ignored in favor of a patch of cream on Tsuzuki's cheek. 

"Tsuzuki-san, you've got something on your face." Tatsumi said in an undertone while leaning in to wipe the sticky cream with his fingers. The fingers lingered much longer than necessary to get the smudge off, giving the secretary the chance to caress the cheek beneath. 

_If this gets any more cloying, we're going to be smothered in sweetness..._

"Ahem. Hisoka asked a question." The Chief finally interjected. 

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun, it's because of this." Tatsumi said as he went back to his terminal and pressed a button. 

Several uniformed policeman and yellow strips of plastic surrounded a bloody scene. A box appeared on the right corner of screen. It surrounded a fuzzy form with white hair was standing behind a car in the background. 

"This was taken in one of the death scenes, look at the right corner." Tatsumi said with a certain catch in his voice. 

"It's _him_, isn't it?" Hisoka hissed. 

_Shit! Does he have to pop up at every other case we get assigned to?_

"Aa. Computer enhancement reveals that it is Muraki-sinsei." Tatsumi said. His tone was suddenly implacable. The camera focused onto the figure until it became clear enough to show a familiar visage. 

"So we're just checking what Muraki is doing?" Hisoka asked, skeptically. 

_If they cause 'unnatural deaths', they and Muraki deserve one another..._

"No. In the light of this discovery, you are called to shadow several known dark onmyoujitsu practitioners and make sure the killer doesn't strike again. They are clearly dying unnaturally and thus the trend must be stopped. That is our job, after all." Tatsumi reprimanded. 

"Aa." Hisoka said, unenthusiastically. 

"Hai." Tsuzuki replied with more life. 

"And about the food budget..." Tatsumi started. 

"Pretty please..." Tsuzuki pleaded. 

"No, Tsuzuki-san..." 

Tsuzuki groaned and the discussion had turned to mundane things. 

*** 

_Dark onmyouji, who needs them? _

Hisoka's opinion had only worsened as they followed their first subject. Kudoh Senji was a curse seller who sold death curses for exorbitant prices. Heirs with aging relatives who aren't quite cooperative at dying, Yakuza extortionists and other unsavory characters were his customers. The man, himself, was a sadist of the common stripe using human servants to stave off being hit by karmic retribution. He also used them in dark rituals that involved a lot of torture. Some of which looked clearly unnecessary. 

_What kind of scum are we protecting? Not the killer was lily-white either..._

The killer had shown sadistic himself. From the way the internal organs had been splattered across the room, Kudoh had been killed very slowly before he had been finished off. He was also clearly proficient at whatever magical field he specialized in. He'd taken advantage of the lull between the times the Shinigami had to report to Meifu authorities. This indicated that he 'saw' the Shinigami. Hisoka and Tsuzuki had been 'flying undercover', they had been extra careful not to stand out. 

_He still managed to get under our guard and kill the man..._

They had watched four more onmyouji, after that, but each time they just managed to get there after the killer had struck. 

Sakurazuka Seishirou was their only chance. The man was top in his field, both as an assassin and an onmyouji. He could conceivably keep himself alive long enough for them to collar the culprit. 

_But how are we going to get the asshole to cooperate with us..._

*** 

Muraki sat to contemplate his creation that was sipping tea across the low table. They were both wearing loose kimonos. He contemplated the sensuous curve of shoulder and grace of movement as the green-eyed man raised to cup to his lips. 

_He was always beautiful but look at him now..._

Muraki's lips curled into an unpleasant smirk as he remembered that time, eight years ago. 

*** 

"I'm honored, Sumeragi-san." Muraki said, as he bowed to the old lady who sat in a wheelchair. 

"You came well recommended, Kazutaka-sinsei." Lady Sumeragi said. 

"Still an honor, to serve the premier onmyouji family in Japan." His glasses shimmered in the light, gray eyes intent on the lady. 

"I trust that Subaru-san will become well in your care." 

"I will care for him like he holds my own life in his hands." 

_Since he will in 1999..._

Muraki lips curled up in a tiny smile. 

_Besides the little boy, has his own brand of charm... He's "broken in" too..._

The white-haired doctor had researched this case when it came to his attention. He had all volunteered for it. 

"Aa. Hana will show you to his room." A girl in a kimono came out of a door to wait on him. 

Muraki recognized the dismissal and bowed to the matriarch. 

He followed the girl down several halls to stand before a screen door. She slid it open to a small chamber. Noiselessly, she let Muraki in and withdrew. 

The Sumeragi house followed the traditional Japanese design of paper screens and wooden frames hiding modern conveniences in tradition. Something he appreciated. This room wasn't any different from the rest. White electric light bathed the room with radiance and a dextrose bottle stood on a metal stand attached accordingly to match the futon's height. On the futon was a pale boy, unseeing green eyes staring into space. 

"Hmm, so you're Subaru-kun. I'm Dr. Kazutaka Muraki, pleased to meet you. Shall we start?" 

*** 

It had been surprisingly easy to get into the Sumeragi household. For all their vaunted onmyoujitsu powers, the Sumeragi were vulnerable to mundane infiltration techniques. All Muraki had to do was shield his nature and get some recommendations, child's play for him. 

_And it was too late when the old hag figured it out...much too late..._

Subaru-kun had come along nicely from the start, a beautiful doll of a boy. The youngster had been so obedient, more obedient than any other doll Muraki had ever played with. He followed without question and generally took to whatever that white haired doctor taught him. He was also quite willing to do anything in bed. 

_A true masterpiece...all the time I wasted, trying to break Hisoka-chan..._

Lady Sumeragi found that out the hard way. 

At least, that was Muraki thought until today. It was the first time Subaru had disobeyed him. The green-eyed bishounen had spared the Sakurazukamori contrary to his orders. 

_Could he still be harboring foolish feelings for that man...does he have so much hold on you that you would spare his life...we'll see about this..._

"It was a pity that your new teammates came to see you just before you could end him." Muraki stalked over to where Subaru sat. 

"Aa." Subaru said, sipping his tea calmly. He sat in the correct and traditional manner. He didn't look the least bit perturbed about the doctor's approach. 

_Or maybe he's just good at hiding his reaction..._

"Or...are you sure you truly want to end his life...? I will be very cross if I find out you've been unfaithful to me..." Muraki said, putting a hand down on a curve of cheek. 

"Aa, Muraki-sinsei." Subaru said, putting down his tea and bent his head over to look the doctor in the eye. 

Muraki felt a slight shiver course over the young man's frame. 

_Oh, he is still mine..._

Subaru let Muraki raise his face for the kiss, opening his mouth to give the doctor access to that sweetness waiting within. 

Muraki smiled. 

_Oh, all mine...maybe I would allow you to live even after your usefulness has passed my little puppet..._

The doctor pulled the Sumeragi head up and slammed him to the wall as he fumbled with the sliding door to their bedroom for the night. 

_A good doll never should be wasted, after all..._

*** 

Subaru kissed his beloved Muraki-sinsei back, happy that his love wasn't angry with him. He would have finished Seishirou-san if those other Dragons hadn't come. He just couldn't do it with them watching. The end he'd prepared for his twin sister's killer was as long drawn out as it could be. 

_I've had a lot of practice... It was going to be the sweetest revenge..._

He just couldn't risk witnesses especially the Dragons of Heaven. 

_Muraki-sinsei and I have other plans for them..._

Plans that required them to trust Subaru, both of them intended to survive the 1999 encounter of the Angels and the Seals. 

_If humanity were to be saved in the process...so be it..._

**~TBC~**

**Author's Notes:**

[1] What are the odds of this ever happening with the Clamp version Subaru? Ten thousand to one? One million to one? Subaru is such wimp. 

I know I'm insane. I got so many fanfics unfinished but I couldn't just let this one go. It's been pestering me for a while now. I have this whole story in outline format, the first time I thought of it. 20 plot points that keep getting a bit changed when I write them in the chapter. ^^; 

I know I've been putting out starts and very little else but rest assured that I will be working on all of my stories even KitKu. "This Time Around" is being stubborn, I can't seem to get around the fact that Kurama is not officially with Hiei in that fic. ^^;   



	2. portraits of the soul

**Finders Keepers**  
YAMI NO MATSUEI - X - TOKYO BABYLON CROSSOVER

**Part 2 - portraits of the soul**

"Subaru-kun, what an unexpected pleasure it is to see you again so soon." Seishirou managed a smile as he opened the door. His mind was working in circles at this sudden development. 

It had been a week since Nakano Plaza, a week since Subaru had gotten the best of him. It never occurred to Seishirou that the younger onmyouji would track him down to his apartment. 

"The pleasure is mine...Seishirou-san." Subaru smiled pointedly looking over Seishirou's shoulder into the room beyond. 

"Do come in." Seishirou steeped aside to let Subaru into his living room. 

_What does he mean to accomplish by this visit...?_

Seishirou was baffled by the strange turn of events. His prey never did this before. Suddenly, the hunter had become the hunted and he didn't know quite how to respond. 

Green eyes wandered over the black couches and subdued cream as if charting an unexplored land. They lingered on an impressionistic painting that Seishirou had purchased more for the way it broke the monotony of the room and not...because it looked like Subaru-kun's eyes. The denial worked pretty well when he bought the painting, but it did not stand with the younger onmyouji's presence in the same room with The Painting. 

The Painting was a mess of leaves overlapping each other. The painter seemed to have conveyed the vivid life of collage. The faint suggestion of sunlight glancing off the foliage turned some parts into deep emerald and others into lighter green. Now that Subaru looked upon it, Seishirou knew that he had picked the painting because it reflected the verdant eyes in their shifting glory. 

_If he realizes...well, better to just brazen it out..._

It was nothing to be disturbed about anyway, Subaru's eyes were really too pretty to belong to a man. 

"Lovely painting isn't it?" 

"Aa, Seishirou-san." 

It was unnerving to see Subaru act so calmly after their fight at Nakano. It was as if the entire thing never happened. Green eyes continued their wandering in the room, not stopping. It felt as if he and Seishirou were old acquaintances who had been estranged from each other for a long time. It was..._annoying_... 

"Satisfied, Subaru-kun?" That brought the eyes back to him, burning holes in their intensity. 

_Those eyes, I would give the world to possess them..._

The random thought came as if a line from a long ago read book. 

"No, and I won't be until I see your broken body at my feet!" The words were uttered so savagely, they were almost shouted, and with a lightning quick gesture, Subaru hurled several ofuda at Seishirou. 

Surprised, Seishirou sidestepped. He managed to dodge all of the ofuda thanks to his assassin's reflexes but the last impacted on a table near to where he stood with explosive force. The metal table shattered sending red-hot fragments in all directions. One hit Seishirou on his right hip, he collapsed. 

_Damned, I don't have the strength to stand..._

He hadn't fully recovered from the injury he suffered in their last fight and his ribs throbbed in time with this new one. He didn't think he needed to hasten the process since he was the hunter. 

_It seemed that I have underestimated you, Subaru-kun... But then, what more could be more appropriate than the prey coming to bay?_

"You won't ask me why I'm here, Seishirou-san?" Subaru asked mockingly as he lifted Seishirou's head with a gentle finger so that their eyes would meet. 

"I would think that it was self-evident." Seishirou's even tone didn't hint the pain he felt. 

_It would be...inappropriate to show weakness..._

"I want to finish what I started at Nakano." Subaru continued as if there was no interruption. 

"And can you kill a man in cold blood, Subaru-kun?" 

"You'll be surprised at what I have become capable of these years, Seishirou-san." There was a rather disturbing smirk on the boyish face that hinted of dark things. 

Seishirou gathered himself for the next attack. 

_Maybe if I..._

The attack never came. 

The hand went to the inner pocket for ofuda but stopped short. Green eyes went vague a moment and a frown knit its way on Subaru's forehead. Seishirou's face was released. 

"Ah, it seemed Seishirou-san that we need to continue this another time." Annoyance laced the statement. 

Everything wavered a moment. 

_Damned, it hit me more than I suspected it would..._

When Seishirou's vision cleared the door had clicked shut and he was left alone in his apartment. 

_Ever considerate Subaru-kun...you might have grown a little...but not enough... You still can't kill me, can you?_

Seishirou tried to stand, wincing as his leg nearly collapsed from under him. He managed to crawl to the remaining table to dial the phone. His sight was beginning to dim. 

"Tokyo City Hospital, I had an accident with a hot poker..." He said as the world wavered around him. 

"We're not doctors but I think we'll do..." A cheerful voice greeted him from behind as he the world finally tilted. 

-o0o-

"I'm cross-referencing Muraki with onmyouji right now. With luck, we'll find a connection." Watari said to Hisoka as his fingers flew over the keyboard. 

"It might be simpler that way as Sakurazuka-san is one stubborn bastard." 

"Hisoka!" Tsuzuki scolded as he came from the other room where he had just looked in their patient. 

"We've helped him twice and he hasnt told us anything." 

"He works in a very secretive profession. You can't blame him for being closemouthed." 

_It's just Tsuzuki being Tsuzuki..._

Hisoka reminded himself for the nth time not to ream into his partner. It would only make the man whimper and him guilty afterwards. It was one of Tsuzuki's endearing yet exasperating qualities. 

_Looking the best in everyone is all very fine but this is a man who deals in painful deaths...and we ARE helping him!_

"We are doing him a favor. We only have his word that he'd been fighting the Sumeragi." 

"Now, now, he doesn't have any reason to lie..." 

"Kurosaki-kun is right. The present Sumeragi Head isn't ruthless enough to inflict the injuries you documented on Sakurazuka-san. Here see for yourself." Tatsumi came in and set a folder down on a table in front of Tsuzuki and Hisoka. It was promptly snatched up by Watari to be used in his correlations. 

"Sumeragi Subaru...premier onmyouji...part-time veterinarian...polite and gentle. No suspicious deaths linked except for the twin sister who died in the hands of Sakurazukamori, Sakurazuka Seishirou. Maybe he just wants vengeance." Tsuzuki concluded as he read the folder's contents out loud from behind Watari. 

"I hate to say this, Tatsumi-san, but I think he's right." Hisoka conceded. 

"There is only one way to find out either way and that is to interview the Sumeragi." Tatsumi placated. 

_He could hardly argue when Tsuzuki is so convinced..._

There was always sexual tension in the room when Tatsumi and Tsuzuki interacted. It grated on Hisoka's nerves since he couldn't help but pick up on it. He'd rather leave them to their privacy, being an intensely private person himself, but it was impossible. 

_Or...at least impossible when they aren't aware that there was something there..._

But that was for another day. Hisoka was not looking forward to interviewing the Sumeragi Head. 

_It's not going to be pleasant or fair..._

There was at least one pair of twins in the Shinigami ranks and their bond was the closest thing to being joined in the hip than anything Hisoka had ever seen. Kagome and Katsumi were hardly away from each other. The unique bond of telepathic twinborn that made them more like one than two people even if they did have some marked differences in personality. He even wondered a time or two what was like to be a twin, of never being alone. It was a slightly frightening, yet appealing, concept for someone who'd been shut in a cellar for most of his young life having no one. Contrary to the façade he presented to the world, Hisoka was not stone. He wasn't as sensitive as say Tsuzuki but he did have enough sensitivity to realize that this interview was going to be cruel on the Sumeragi Subaru. 

_I don't think he needs anymore reminders..._

"But...but...Tatsumi!" Tsuzuki protested. 

Trust Tsuzuki to understand _that_. 

"No excuses, Tsuzuki-san." There was a limit to Tatsumi's concessions and this was it. 

_Most unpleasant indeed..._

-o0o-

The Sumeragi Head worked in a small vet clinic inside a popular pet store in the shopping arcade. While the store walls were cream colored, the clinic was painted pure white with seats of dark blue vinyl. A white screen divider came between the examination and waiting areas. It was only about three meters wide but neat and well-appointed. 

"We would like to talk to Sumeragi-san...in his other capacity." Hisoka asked the secretary who manned a small reception table. She was a tiny thing wearing a light blue dress, fading into the clinic's décor. She felt quite faded out to his senses herself. She was shy and had no inclinations to independent thought. 

_Now...now that isn't your business..._

Hisoka knew that he was being over critical in his nervousness but then he really didn't want to be here. 

Tsuzuki looked wide eyed through the glass, longing no doubt to go out and pet the puppies and kittens at the front display of the store. The clinic was tucked discreetly in a less frequented part of the store, a precautionary measure to keep diseases from spreading to the pets being sold no doubt. 

"There is someone here to see you, Subaru-san." The secretary nodded and called out. 

"Thank you, Haruko-san. I'll be done a bit." A friendly voice replied through the divider. 

A few moments of murmuring followed then the screen door parted to let a young girl out, carrying a cage with a guinea pig that looked like it had been startled out of its wits [1]. A man in black followed her, boyishly thin with the largest pair of emerald eyes Hisoka had ever seen, eyes that widened a little more when they fell on him and his partner. It seemed that the Sumeragi Head at least recognized them for what they were. 

"There you go, Aya-chan, make sure Ran-chan drinks plenty of vitamin C and don't be afraid to go to Yuki-san for advice [1]." The man said to the girl in parting. 

"Hai, Subaru-sinsei." The girl said as she skipped out the clinic door and it was only Hisoka, Tsuzuki and the secretary. 

"Sumeragi-san? We need to ask you some questions." Tsuzuki asked. 

"Call me Subaru, come in." Subaru gestured into the examination room where two vinyl covered chairs also stood, each on the side of a metal examination table. He then turned to his secretary. 

"Haruko-san, make sure that we're not bothered for any reason." 

Suddenly, before the secretary could answer, a wave of power washed over Hisoka. He saw from Subaru-san's face that he felt it too. 

"Ah, Haruko-san, close up the clinic. It's a good thing that we did not take any inpatients this month, earthquake coming." Subaru said calmly and turned to them. 

It seemed that the secretary was used to the odd instructions of her employer for she did not protest. 

_Not that she would even then..._

Haruko opened her drawer and packed a cell phone into a black purse and tidied her desk. Hisoka and Tsuzuki didn't need any prompting to follow in Subaru and the secretary's wake as they went to the front of the clinic. 

"My apologies, but I must leave for _other_ duties." Subaru as Tsuzuki helped Haruko close the rolling iron cage in the clinic's entrance. 

"We understand." Hisoka said, holding a restraining hand on a protesting Tsuzuki. They did not need to antagonize the Sumeragi Head when he had been so accommodating. 

"Thank you." Subaru loped purposely down the wide hallway of the shopping arcade. Haruko had already vanished after the cage was locked in place. 

"Hisoka! We didn't find anything out yet... Tatsumi's going to be mad with us." Tsuzuki wailed. 

Hisoka privately admitted that the last would probably be the direst consequence for his partner but there was a reason for his keenness to let the Sumeragi go. 

"Not really. Let's follow him." 

Tsuzuki was too honest sometimes. 

"What..." 

"This is our chance to verify Sakurazuka-san's claim. He might be laid up but there are other Angels. Besides, Sumeragi-san doesn't know that." 

Recognition finally dawned in those purple eyes. Both Shinigami faded from sight to better observe the coming battle. 

-o0o-

_Angel...but which one...?_

The building was rumbling now with the fury of the Dragon and Subaru was nearly running. 

_ I need to get out of here..._

He finally got out just as the building started to shake in earnest. He looked about seeing that there was more rubble around the building across the street. 

_That must be the epicenter... Sunshine 60 is a focal point of kekkai hereabouts..._

He walked towards the building and built his star-shaped kekkai carelessly. The damage caused or the people that would be killed were less than nothing to him but he knew it would be suspicious if he didn't. 

_Heh, I would not miss Sunshine 60 at all..._

The building held a few memories he'd rather erase and he had to pass it everyday going to work. He remembered… 

Seishirou talking to the penguin rather adorably… Him gasping an apology for being late... 

No, that day like any other day in that year was false... 

He yanked his mind forcibly to the present and looked about for the source of a trouble. 

_There..._

Kamui was pinned in place by a taller...man. 

"Kamui!" 

_Troublesome boy...and...and..._

It was as if his memories had called him out of the past... 

_Seishirou-san...?_

There was not time to contemplate this as long white sash darted from somewhere on his side. He dodged quite well enough. 

_Interesting...afraid of me Seishirou-san...think help will save you from my vengeance...?_

The sash fighter was good. Subaru could give him that. He destroyed the ofudo birds with a whirl of his sash. 

_Wait...what was that?_

He felt a distinctive ki signature somewhere behind him. 

_So they haven't give up...hmmm..._

The distraction only a moment but he felt the sash wind around his wrist. 

_You are good..._

Subaru tugged at the sash, bidding his time, it might be tight but not that bothersome yet. 

_But not good enough..._

The other fighter had closed in just in time to catch the fire blast Subaru focused through an ofuda he flicked in the last moment. 

_Let them see this then...a Dragon of Heaven is doing his duty..._

Subaru didn't know why they were interested in him, anyway. He abided by their rules as a good onmyouji should. 

_That is for another time..._

The blast had thrown the Angel wide but kid wasn't a normal human and can't be expected to remain incapacitated for long. There was also the matter with Kamui, no matter how Subaru felt about the boy, he had to protect him. 

_That is my destiny..._

"He is quite a handful, isn't he?" Seishirou-san asked, steadying the other Angel. 

"Let me take care of him." 

Seishirou turned to say something to Kamui, calling out the bent girders to restrain the boy. Then he turned to the sash fighter. 

"You baby sit..." 

Subaru threw an ofudo before Seishirou could finish the statement, knowing that surprise was the only way he could defeat _two_ Angels. Kamui was worse than useless in this sort of thing. 

"Eager aren't you?" Seishirou-san dodged and the battle was on. 

-o0o-

Hisoka sighed as he and Tsuzuki returned to the Meifu. It seemed that they were not getting anywhere with their investigation. Following the Sumeragi head only seemed to prove Sakurazuka-san's assertion that he'd been fighting the man all along. 

_He certainly showed enough hostility to have done the deed...but then I don't blame him..._

The way the other Angel used Sakurazukamori's form and patronizingly called the Sumeragi head "Subaru-kun" reminded Hisoka of Muraki. He wanted to eviscerate the white-haired doctor every time the man called him "boy". One could almost feel the condescending head patting in the tone. He wouldn't blame anyone else for feeling the same way. 

_Much less if that someone killed your twin sister..._

The resulting property damage would have done Tsuzuki, on a bad day, proud. 

_If Sumeragi-san hadn't put up his kekkai..._

The Sumeragi head had trounced his opponent senseless before the sash fighter intervened. 

_There's no fear for Humanity's survival with someone so formidable as a Dragon of Heaven..._

Hisoka would not begrudge them the victory and Subaru-san deserved his revenge but if Sakurazuka-san was right then they will have to let him go and find another bait to lure their killer. 

-o0o-

_I hope Haruko-san got out of the way in time..._

Subaru thought as he drove Kamui to the hospital to be checked over. It was hard for him to find such a secretary that fitted his needs so well. He even paid her salary this year, knowing that he would not be using her services for most of it. Despite his kekkai, he had not been able to prevent some structural damage to Sunshine 60 since Kamui and his counterpart had battled there before he had set it up. Some debris had fallen down and hit a few bystanders afterwards. 

_It would have been better if it had collapsed..._

**TBC**

**Author's Notes:**

**[1] **A little private joke and yes, the guinea pig breed really exists. It's an _Abyssinian_. Please tell me if you get the joke. It has something to do with my original fandom. 

All the canon scenes were taken from Taryn's manga scanlations. Mangled somewhat to suit the story, of course. I think I got my canon timeline mixed up...was Nakano Plaza before or after Kamui went within? Anyway too late to fix that now. 

Erm, I need help on Tokyo Babylon, anyone got summaries? Translations? I mislaid my scanlations and I need the translations for the next chapter. Help will be credited and much loved. 

Next Updates: Violets Fade Quickly and then Wingless Flight chapter 2 (especially for Portia). Or maybe it is reversed.

For those who might be amused, the last parts were written to the sound of Lara Fabian belting out Broken Vow and Gloria Gaynor singing I Will Survive. It seems appropriate somehow. Though I'll never hear "Broken Vow" without thinking of "Meteor Garden" soap op. Hmmm, maybe I should make a filksong of "I Will Survive" with the SxS? Pardon me as I babble. 


End file.
